biographies
Ambr Aria: Lief Ambrosia Hall and Matthew Ariaratnam began improvising together in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, playing in a backyard with birds and lawnmowers as accompaniment. Located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəyəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlílwətaɬ (TsleilO-Waututh) First Nations, together they create music to exist inside of and take refuge in, creating dreamlike utopic/dystopic soundscapes with voice and guitar. Often using tarot cards and graphic scores to inspire their improvisations, Hall and Ariaratnam have continued to evolve the visual aspect of their collaboration by collecting assorted small objects, plants and fungi, creating video artworks to accompany their music. Lief and Matthew are both graduates of the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts program at SFU, where they met. Ariaratnam is a guitarist, composer, and improviser, who often works in interdisciplinary collaboration with visual artists, dancers, and theatre-makers. Hall is a vocalist, musician and improvisor, whose work crosses disciplines of video art, installation, performance and sound. Collaborating through both music and video creation they go by Ambr Aria.
Formed in 2019, Like the Mind is an intercontinental instrumental sextet led by award- winning violinist Meredith Bates bringing together highly sought after musicians from both Canada and Sweden: Peggy Lee (cello), Elisa Thorn (harp + FX), Lisen Rylander Löve (sax + FX), Lisa Ullén (piano), and Emma Augustsson (cello). These women have pursued their careers to achieve excellence and be recognized internationally for raising the bar of artistic innovation and merit. Their accolades are countless and they continue to forge ahead in their fields as artists of absolute integrity and outstanding ability. Born out of the unmistakable similarities between their musical sensibilities, Like the Mind is dedicated to
creating sound works that challenge dominant systems, lean into innovation and change, and represent the vast and limitless landscape of their art form. Improvised music is the spontaneous voicing of these ethics and desires and represents, in the moment, through the language of sound, everything that we feel together.
Stellar buds Feven Kidane and Andromeda Monk join forces as Mini Maze to chart a labyrinthine course through regions both pre-composed and unknown – but where are the boundary lines? Having played together in the bands Littles and Magic Maze, as well as a dozen other free improv settings, this will be Feven & Andromeda’s most maximalist outing to date, exploring their shared love of both electronics and wind instruments together. Will the duo grope their way back home along a trail of thread, or meet their doom at the horns of the Minotaur? Tune in to find out.
Vancouver’s Julia McDougall cut her teeth in music in Western Canada’s folk scenes by earning a composition degree from Simon Fraser University and temporarily relocating to Berlin to practice her craft. The result is Yawn, a psychedelic but immediately accessible vocal pop project full of hazy longing. Hummable singles “Wasting Time” and “Golden” show great promise for her debut full-length album, expected to be out spring of 2024.
Led by vocalist Julia Úlehla and guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn), the “utterly captivating” (Vancouver Sun) Dálava takes Czech folk melodies transcribed over 100 years ago by Úlehla’s great-grandfather and places them in a compelling contemporary context. Cinematic and wide-ranging, the music of Dálava is beautifully rendered and hauntingly expressive, offering a “stunning fusion of Middle European melody, rock energy, and scratchy avant-jazz textures” (Georgia Straight).
Shruti Ramani is an innovative and emerging artist in the Canadian Jazz scene. She hails from Mumbai, India where she secured a degree in Hindustani music under the mentorship of Dr. Ritu Johri from the Agra Gharana. She moved to Canada and acquired a Bachelor in Jazz Studies (Performance) with a specialization in voice from Capilano University. Her original music is an eclectic combination of the Indian and Jazz traditions. She composes and arranges music that fuses the two traditions to create dynamic pieces for both large and small ensembles. She leads a collaborative ensemble named Raagaverse with respected musicians Jodi Proznick, Noah Franche-Nolan and Nicholas Bracewell. Shruti has extensive experience teaching music to people with a wide range of ages, musical abilities, and genres. She has toured the Canadian jazz circuit with the prestigious Ostara Project led by Jodi Proznick and Amanda Tosoff. She is set to release her first album funded by the Canada Council for Arts.
